adminGodwin Muzari Arts Editor
Peter Moyo’s new album titled “Mabasa aMwari” is a big leap from his debut release “Mushonga Mukuru”. “Mabasa aMwari” corrects some mistakes that Peter made on his first album and shows improvement, which suggests the musician is on a steady rise up the music ladder.
It might not be the best that fans were expecting from him – because the Young Igwe, as the musician is popularly known, is still being compared to his late father Tongai – but Peter went an extra mile and is evidently working hard to fine-tune his compositions.
Suluman Chimbetu – now rated among top musicians – went through the same experience when he did his first two albums “Ndomusiya Nani” and “Reverse Deal” when he took over from his late father, Simon.
With “Mabasa aMwari”, Peter shows signs of defining a style that is slightly different from Tongai’s. Because his voice is different from his father’s fine vocals that would accelerate at different keys, Peter opts for a slightly lower key on most of the songs.
It is evident from the previous album that Peter struggles with a high pitch. Although some songs on the new album force him to stretch his vocals a bit higher, he maintains a manageable key for the greater part of the project, bringing out a clear sound.
Peter also goes on a deliberate exploration of different beats when he incorporates a jiti style on the song “Domestic Violence” while on the song “Pasina Mari” Motswana singer Slizer’s fast rhumba beat is dominant.
Both songs show the intentional departure from the traditional “Dhewa” beat and the experiment worked out well. “Domestic Violece” is a good danceable song and has sing-along lines that are likely to make fans crazy at live shows. “Pasina Mari” shows Peter’s strength in collaborations. He fuses well with Slizer’s style on the fast rhumba beat. His father Tongai employed slower rhumba beats and borrowed a lot from the leisurely side of Koffi Olomide’s music.
Another plus for Peter was his ability to do all the vocals on the album. Save for the Slizer collaboration, he did the lead and backing vocals alone and this is a clear sign of maturity. It usually takes established musicians to have confidence to do all vocals for a six-track album in the studio.
Besides the low vocal key and fusion of other beats on the afore-mentioned songs, the rest of the album maintains the Utakataka Express style and the sound is more defined than on “Mushonga Mukuru”.
This is mainly because of the return of some band members that worked with Tongai but were not with Peter when he recorded his first album. The influence of Spencer Kumulani’s bass guitar and Shiga Shiga’s comic chants make the album lively.
Spencer has been an instrumental part of Utakataka Express for a long time and Tongai nicknamed him “The Bolt-cutter” because of his prowess. His bass guitar gives “Mabasa aMwari” a fine edge.
It was unfortunate that Peter had to do his first album without Shiga Shiga whose chants have become one of the main components of Utakataka Express music.
On the previous album Peter did the chants but could not nail it well. Chanting seems to come naturally for Shiga Shiga. Where Tongai would say: “Shiga pinda panyanga”, Peter says: “show them Shiga” and the chanter enters with style. In fact, the album begins with Shiga Shiga’s chant.
In terms of composition, Peter continued with social commentary and most of the lyrics are good. On the previous album he sought assistance of fellow artistes on two songs but on this album he went it alone.
The album shows that Peter has great potential to shake the music industry. He should just keep working on vocals so that he does not limit himself to certain keys and he has to guard against depending on certain individuals in the band to build his career.
Online Reporter